Vote FOR questions 1, 2 on ballot

Maryland voters will decide two constitutional amendments when they go to the polls in the general election. We urge local residents to vote FOR Question 1 (restricting transportation trust funds) and Question 2 (special elections for county executive or Baltimore City mayor).

Question 1 adds language to the Maryland Constitution restricting the use of transportation trust funds to highway and transportation purposes, including allocation to local governments as highway user revenues.

In recent years, money in the Transportation Trust Fund has been raided by governors and state lawmakers for use in the general fund to balance the Maryland budget. The biggest effect locally has stemmed from the state’s decision to withhold highway user revenues from county and town governments. Mid-Shore counties had relied on those funds for local road projects in the area, including maintenance and improvements.

Approval of Question 1 provides for a “lockbox” of sorts for the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, which was “created in 1971 to establish a dedicated fund to support the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT),” according to the agency’s website. “Sources of funds include motor fuel taxes, vehicle excise (titling) taxes, motor vehicle fees (registrations, licenses and other fees), and federal aid.”

The proposed constitutional amendment would limit “the use of Transportation Trust Funds to payment of principal and interest on transportation bonds and for constructing and maintaining an adequate highway system or any other transportation-related purpose.”

It also would prohibit “the transfer of Transportation Trust Funds into the General Fund or a special fund of the State, except for: (1) an allocation or use of highway user revenues for local governments or (2) a transfer of funds to the Maryland Transportation Authority or the Maryland Transportation Authority Fund.”

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